We just returned from the Royal Islander. We spent two weeks again this year and found that the excellence that is the hallmark of the Royal Resorts seems to only be surpassed each year we travel there.

The rooms are immaculate, the food is superb (and we felt reasonably priced) and the pool area and grounds were very well maintained.

The weather didn't hurt the enjoyment of our trip, either. It rained a total of 1/2 hour during one day (it showered overnight a few nights) in the 14 days we were there.

We are true, blue members of the Royal Resorts and for good reason. They give new meaning to 5 Star quality.

hi folks! i had the best time at the royalislander! is was wonderful. last year i went there with my two best friends it was unbelievable. The food and weather were jsut great! even the drinks too; ). the best advice i have for eveyone is to pick to pick royalislander cancun or your next vacation you will have the time of your life!.
thanks

We went to get away from the cold weather and had a wonderful time. The Condo's are great, we traveled with 2 teenagers and we each had our own bedrooms so they could sleep away the morning. The pool was not heated and the water was cold. We sunned but could not enjoy the pool. The staff was very helpful. The resturants they had were excellent. The people at the complex were very friendly. It was very nice to have a grocery store on site to purchase food that we had - we ate breakfast and lunch in then went out in the evening. The property is very quiet at night. At 9-10:00 in the evening there was no activity.
The resturant across the street - Captains Cove was great.

We just returned from a week at the Royal Islander, and had a mixed experience - some good, some not so good, and some downright ugly.

THE GOOD: the resort & grounds are beautiful, the pools lovely, and the beach quite nice, although they are not wide due to Wilma, and there are rocks interspersed along the shore. The staff at Royal Resorts are all very pleasant and cheerful, and almost always willing to help. On-site restaurants are mediocre, but OK if you don't feel like going out.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD: Resort assigns a "personal consierge" which, on the surface seems great, but in reality they're only "promoters" interested in getting you ready for the sales pitch on buying a timeshare unit. Poolside there's plenty of competition for the chairs, with some people "staking their claim" at dawn, just to get the favored spots. Some people were so pushy about it my daughter actually was verbally abused by a guest for "invading my spot". While staff is generally helpful & positive, nobody seems to be in charge overall - each function (front desk, sports desk, tour reservations, etc.) has authority only for its own little patch of the resort world. Consequently, when a general problem crops up, there's nobody to turn to for help, so guests end up chasing through the organizational maze to try to fix the problem themselves. It's almost as if everyone is scared tio death of making a mistake by overstretching their own little bit of authority - in essence, not a good customer service philosophy. Examples of difficulties we experienced: upon arrival at the airport, nobody was there to pick us up (as promised) and they had no record of us at all; trying to cancel a dinner reservation (see below); getting a voucher for the return trip to the airport, to name a few. Tip to visitors: pay very close attention to what you sign up for (restaurant reservations, tours) because they have extremely strict cancellation policies & are ever so reluctant to give it up, once booked.

THE UGLY: Our suite was very nice - two bedrooms, livingroom, kitchen, and a lovely balcony. We settled in, and had enjoyed our accommodations for 5 days when we received a call at 9:00 p.m. on our 5th day to tell us that we had to move out of one of the bedrooms immediately because it wasn't part of the suite!! Apparently, the resort had made a mistake & left open the door of bedroom (and bath) #2, and we naturally assumed it was part of what we had rented. Rather than do the right thing and let us stay put, they INSISTED that we move out immediately, or pay extra for the 2nd bedroom. My duaghter eneded up sleeping for 2 nights on a murphy bed! This is where having someone in charge overall would have been helpful.

Another ugly: we booked a restaurant reservation but had to cancel because my daughter got sick. The resort refused to accept the cancellation and we were told we would have to pay the prix fix of $200! We protested, asked to speak to someone in charge, and were guided by our "personal consierge" to meet with a manager. When we arrived at the meeting, the two began pitching the advantages of timeshare ownership, and in the end couldn't even help us with our problem. It was offensive and galling to say the least. Only after pursuing the issue with a half-dozen other people were we finally able to get a credit for the charge.

So there you have it. My hope is that our experience was unique because it is a lovely spot, but somehow I suspect the Royal Resorts issues are more systemic. Good luck to all future visitors!